A Winter Abroad
by kneesofbees
Summary: What happens when Astrid looses track of Hiccup after he is given the honor of killing the monstrous nightmare? Adventure is what happens. Follow Hiccup's journey of self discovery as he leaves Berk and winds up in even deeper trouble in the world beyond his island home.
1. Chapter 1

_Howdy, first timer here, trying out my hand at this whole creative writing thing. I don't own "How to Train your Dragon" or any of its characters, read and review, yadda yadda yadda. I hope you enjoy the story._

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><p>Astrid grimaced in frustration, she had lost sight of Hiccup again. It had happened in the same place as last time, at the boulder. Just like last time, he had stepped behind the large stone and seemed to vanish. The first time it happened Astrid had simply given up following him. Sure she had wondered why he was out in the woods, especially with that strange package slung under his arm, but at the time she had just thought his recent successes in the ring had been dumb luck. She thought she had no real need to follow him other than to vent her frustration.<p>

Now she knew differently. Hiccup had clearly discovered something about dragon fighting that she wasn't being taught. There was no way that little fishbone had beaten her fairly in the arena. She was Astrid for Thor's sake. The best Viking in her generation. Not only did she have the most talent but she had also put in the thousands of hours of work necessary to forge that raw talent into well-honed skill.

Hiccup for all his good intent wasn't a dragon slayer. He just didn't have it in him. He belonged in his forge, fixing things, making things better. That's where his talents lay. Anybody with half a brain could see that.

But instead, he had chosen to be a constant thorn in not only the village's side, but more recently in Astrid's own as well. Not only did he have the gall to trip Astrid up in the Killing Ring. He then showed the outright audacity to turn his initially bumbling showing around and outdid her.

The boy hadn't ever put even an hours training into wielding an axe over the course of his entire life. Ohhh no, with that big head of his 'the great' Hiccup the Horrendous Haddock the Third had long ago decided that such things were beneath him. Instead he was always trying to find a workaround.

Well, apparently he had found one, because he was getting results. Results that clearly weren't coming from a mastery of the weapons he left scattered about his feet every time he brought down a dragon. It was like he was intentionally throwing them away. A madman's proposition at best.

Astrid was intent on finding out his secret. Who had taught him these mysterious techniques, or how he had discovered them on his own. Once she had done that she could reveal to the entire village that Hiccup had been cheating, that he had been pulling the wool over everybody's eyes. He wasn't better at fighting dragons than the rest of them were, he just had an unfair advantage. Once the village knew that they would demand that the obviously more talented and hardworking Astrid be given the chance to prove her metal in the ring fighting the ultimate prize.

Astrid smiled in triumph. This time she would catch Hiccup for sure. The large pack he had carried out of his house that afternoon must have weighed the slim boy down quite a bit because he was leaving footprints in the forest floor. Footprints Astrid could follow. Tracking, another essential dragon slaying skill that Astrid had trained for years to master that Hiccup didn't even know the basics of.

There was an almost invisible little crevasse, tucked away behind bushes. Hiccups footprints lead Astrid straight to it. She hurried her pace. She had lost valuable ground in her hunt for the boy, she threw some amount of her caution to the wind and rushed along the trail he had inadvertently left for her. There was no way she was letting him get away from her this time.

Astrid burst out of the brush onto a small trail that wove down a short slope between towering boulders. Just as she started worrying that Hiccup had somehow tricked her down a dead end she saw light at the end of the ravine. She burst out from between the last two stones and had to quickly fall into a slide in order to check her momentum. A cloud of dust and debris, kicked up by her last minute slide, flew over the ledge of the cliff she had almost run straight off of. Stupid Hiccup, almost getting her killed.

She had rushed out into a little cove. An empty little cove.

"No, you aren't getting away from me this time." Astrid muttered under her breath. Hiccup had earned himself a good thumping when she found him for making her chase him like this. She slid down the least steep side of the cliff, feet touching down on the soft dirt at the bottom of the cove. And froze.

Leaning against a rock was the remains of the large basket which Hiccup had been hauling through the forest. Astrid's heart pounded with fear as she approached and her legs gave out when she got close enough to confirm her suddenly growing fears. The basket had been torn apart by dragon claws. Growing up on Berk, Astrid knew exactly what the damage from dragon claws looked like. And this was certainly it. She stood up in a daze, how could this have happened? How could a dragon have taken Hiccup?

"I wasn't that far behind you, was I?" Astrid couldn't bring her voice above a whisper. Now that she was close she could see a few small circular black scales on the ground around the Basket. She didn't recognize them from any dragon she had ever seen, but they were too big to be anything else. "No, No, No. I would have heard the fighting."

Astrid's foot splashed into the water that had been behind her. The biting cold shocked her out of her trance. Astrid glanced down briefly, surprised by the water. Her eyes caught a slight glint. Sunlight off metal. Astrid's heart sank into the pit of her stomach as she bent over to retrieve the ultimate proof of what happened here. Hiccups dagger lay in the water, clearly lost in what must have been an all too brief struggle.

Oh gods, she had to get back to the village. She had to tell Stoick what happened.

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><p>"Bud I wish you had been a little bit more careful with your breakfast." The response to Hiccups chiding was a grumble from the nightfury that now cut their path through the stunning orange of the early evening sky. "You tore up a perfectly serviceable basket you know. I had been intending to keep any food we found in there. Now all we have are the saddle bags I stitched together."<p>

Toothless didn't even respond to the further nagging. Hiccup gave a long drawn out sigh and rested back in his saddle. "I don't even know why I bother. All I've done is trade a father who won't listen to me with a dragon who won't listen." Hiccup shifted his weight left just a moment before he adjusted the pedal that controlled Toothless's tailfin. Hiccup had quickly learned to give hints at his intentions before changing the tail's position. Communication was key when it came to staying aloft and dragons understood motion and weight far better than they understood panicked shouts of: Left! I said LEFT!

Hiccup had guided the duo's path in a wide ring around the Island, he didn't want to be spotted from the shore. He wanted to be as far away as he could get before anybody found out he had left. But, there was still one more thing he had to do on the island. He knew it was crazy, but he couldn't leave the nightmare to die, or the others for that matter. The training dragons never lasted long once food started going short in the winter.

So now he was circling his home on the back of Toothless planning a raid of his own. The thought amused him slightly. It also made him a little sick. Hiccup knew why his people did what they did. The dragons attacked them often, the people of Berk needed training in order to fight back. By destroying the Killing Ring he would be hurting his entire village. Still, Hiccup couldn't leave the dragons. "Maybe I really am a traitor bud."

Toothless's warble of response brought a slight smile to Hiccup's face. He patted his worried friend on the back of the head. "Don't worry too much about me bud. I'm alright, just have to keep my mind off of things till it gets dark enough to break the other dragons out." Hiccup set about doing just that. During the earlier stretch of their flight Hiccup had focused on thinking up a way to feed him and his traveling companion. Those musings had quickly evolved into a rough design for a fishing net attachment for his saddle. Sadly Hiccup had reached the point in the design where he would have to actually start sketching out his ideas and doing equations in order to get any farther.

Instead he focused on the way the orange hews of twilight set the rocks of his Island home ablaze. All sorts of feelings welled up in his heart. Hiccup really did love his home. The forests he explored and played in when he was a child. The great hall where he was always warm and safe and full of good food. The smiles on the faces of people as he excitedly chattered about his latest imagined adventures. Of course in recent years many of those smiles had turned into grimaces. Hiccup knew nobody really hated him. Still it was hard being a constant disappointment to the people around you. Never being strong enough or big enough to carry the weight of their expectations.

Hiccup rolled his eyes in disgust at himself. What sort of self-respecting Viking moped for Valhalla's sake? And it wasn't like the village was wrong either. Here Hiccup was riding on the back of Berks ancestral enemy, clearly the greatest disappointment of all. And he loved it. Up here Hiccup was free, he was strong, and he was brave. Up in the sky, he felt like a Viking.

Hiccup shivered a bit, the cold pulling him out of his musings. The sun had finally set and he had been too deep in thought to notice. It was dark enough, now was the time to strike. Hiccup and toothless dove downwards, pulling back into straight flight mere feet above the ocean's swells. Hiccup knew that Vikings didn't look to the water when the sky grew dark, they looked to the sky. Dragons, masters of the sky and creatures of habit, always attacked from above. Giving Hiccup and Toothless the perfect opportunity to sneak in from below.

Hiccup leaned back in his saddle and Toothless soared up the cliff to the Killing Ring. As Hiccup crested the lip of the ledge he breathed out a sigh of relief. Generally nobody guarded the Killing Ring. Hiccup was glad to see that that held true today. Hiccup spared a glance over to the village. He could see a lot of people moving about the village in the light of the torches. Far more than usual. Most of these people were moving towards the great hall. Hiccup's heart skipped a beat. "We have to move fast bud, something has happened and the villagers are out in force. It won't take them long to get here once we start our breakout." Hiccup couldn't understand it, there was no way the villagers would be missing him already.

Toothless's ear flipped up and smacked Hiccup across the jaw. The smack snapped Hiccup out of his thoughts. "Sorry bud, let's get the job done." Toothless leapt up to the top of the cage. This was the first time Hiccup had really felt Toothless build up a shot. Before, when Toothless would fire his blasts they would be short and unexpected. Now Toothless let the shot build in his chest before he let it loose. For Hiccup the buildup felt like it lasted forever. A low whine accompanied by a rumble that shook Hiccup in his saddle. The blast that followed boomed off the cliffs around the killing ring that matched Thor's mightiest thunder.

Hiccup fought the urge to wince and watch the village for signs that they had been noticed. There was no chance they weren't. Getting caught up in nerves wouldn't do him any good. There was a hole in the top of the Killing Ring large enough for any dragon. He and Toothless needed to work fast and get the other dragons out of here before they were seen. Five quick burst of Toothless's dense fire and the doors to the Dragon arena were so much kindling. The dragons exploded out of their cells, expecting battle no doubt. The nightmare had immediately light itself and cast a bright orange light. "Oh come on! What did I ever do to you?" Hiccup tossed this comment upwards towards the heavens. The gods really did have it out for him. Hiccup urged Toothless to take off into the air. Hiccup had to get out of the light before somebody saw his silhouette. People riding dragons would cause an all-out panic on Berk.

"Come on guys, take off. We really have to leave now, or do you want to get captured again?" Hiccup waved his hands as he spoke. Trying to urge the other dragons out of the ring. The dragons looked confused up at him. Hiccup guessed that the dragons were no more comfortable with a dragon riding Viking then the Vikings would be if they saw them.

Then Toothless let out a deafening roar. This seemed to draw the creatures out of their confusion. They sprang one by one out of their prison and took to the air around Hiccup and Toothless. Hiccup barely waited for the Zippleback to get out of the ring before he and Toothless were off, leading the dragons away from Berk as straight and fast as they could go. He spared one last look over his shoulders. The Vikings were only just now getting to the bridge that lead to the Killing Ring. With any luck they hadn't seen Hiccup outlined in the nightmare's flames.


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter two is done. I didn't get much of a chance to edit this one. If anybody notices any grammar mistakes don't hesitate to call me out. Hope you enjoy it._

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><p>Hiccup cursed softly under his breath. The chill of the night was nipping at his limbs like so many playful terrors. He had been leading his small flock of escapees away from Berk through the cold of a late summer evening. Winter couldn't be that far off, soon the Ice would come and the endless snow storms would bury the islands in snow. Hiccup needed more warmth. He had a heavier coat in one of his bags but he doubted it would be enough for a whole winter sleeping Odin only knows where.<p>

His group was flying through a bank of fog when something changed. Hiccup noticed the soft buzzing noise in the air before anything else. Then he noticed the dragons. He wasn't just with his small flock anymore. There were now hundreds of them, bringing in their catches. Each of the beasts not in Hiccups little group carried some sort of food. A fish, a deer, even an errant sheep or two. Hiccup was somewhat awed by the sight of so many dragons, most of them just dark shapes in the fog. Hiccups little group stayed close to Toothless.

Hiccup knew something wrong with Toothless when he lay his hand on his friends head to try and get some reassurance. There was no reaction, not even the huffed breath that he often got when Toothless was exasperated with his rider. After a moment Toothless gave his big head a shake. Hiccup felt a real chill now.

"Come on bud, what's going on? You need to give me a hint here." Just as the words left Hiccups mouth, tight and tense, the Dragon pulled into a dive. Toothless hadn't given Hiccup and indication that he would dive. Something was definitely wrong. Hiccup managed to readjust the tailfin, keeping the controlled dive from turning into a freefall. "Okay bud, something is clearly wrong, but I'm just going to have to trust you. Aren't I?" Hiccup really hoped that trust was well placed. He loved his scaly friend, but the lack of communication had suddenly made Hiccup aware of how high up they were in a way that he hadn't been since falling off Toothless on that first flight.

Hiccup did his best to keep Toothless moving between the stone pillars that were springing out of the fog in front of them. Between the low visibility, the pillars and the fact that his little flock of dragons seemed intent on staying close enough to touch wings, this was easily the most difficult flying Hiccup had ever done. Hiccup knew where he was now, he must be somewhere around Helheim's gate. He had never seen the place himself, but all of the factors fit with the descriptions that he had heard of the place.

Then they left the fog behind. Hiccup drew in a sharp breath. A massive mountain rose out of the water. All Jagged black rock, billowing smoke, and threatening orange glow. Hiccup tried to gulp down the ball of fear that was collecting in the back of his throat, it didn't work. The dragons soared into small caves that dotted the side of the mountain, Toothless followed. Hiccup had created an image of the nest where the dragons lived in his mind's eye. Some cheerful island full of chirping and playful calls. He hadn't imagined something like this. This was far too much like the dark foreboding place of nightmares the Vikings muttered about in low voices after a particularly bad raid.

Then they broke free of the tight walls of the tunnels. Toothless soared into a huge vaulted cavern, clearly the belly of a great volcano. The place was warm. Far too warm to be comfortable, even after the cold Hiccup had been enduring for the past hour. The bottom of the Cavern was shrouded in a threatening mist, a mist lit from beneath by a blood red light. Thankfully Toothless didn't choose to circle over the mist. Instead, after a brief shudder, Toothless quickly made his way to the edge of the cavern, ducking behind a column of stone on one of the larger ledges. Once he had landed Toothless looked back at Hiccup. "Oh, thank the gods," Hiccup let out the words in a sigh of relief. Toothless's big friendly eyes stared into his own with all the intelligence and soul Hiccup was used to seeing there. He lay his hand on Toothless's snout and felt the reassuring snort the dragon let out.

The dragons were dropping the food they had brought into the pit… The dragons were dropping the food they had STOLEN into the PIT! Hiccup felt real anger bubbling up in his stomach. All these years, all these deaths. So much pain on both sides of this war, and for what? So the dragons could drop tons of food into a pit?

Then Hiccup heard the frightened chirping coming from behind him. He glanced back. The Nadder from his little flock was staring intently into the pit area, in fact all of his dragons where. Hiccups head snapped back around when he felt Toothless tense up. The nightfury was staring to, out across the pit. Right at their gronckle as it hovered tiredly and seemingly confused over the pit. The boulder class dragon swung its big head around and when it landed on Hiccups little group it let out a happy little bark and started flying towards them. Then every dragon in the entire cavern went silent. The buzzing that Hiccup had heard since first joining the flight had ceased.

That was when it came out of the mist. It was the biggest dragon that Hiccup had ever seen. Probably the biggest dragon that anybody had ever seen. The only thing he could think to compare its size to be the guardian statues that stood watch over Berk. Even that comparison fell short, the size might be right. But the sheer terror that gripped Hiccup when he tried to comprehend a creature of that magnitude made it feel entirely different.

The titanic dragon's jaws opened underneath the startled Gronckle, easily wide enough to close around the smaller dragon. No. It wouldn't. Would it? It was. The Monster seemed to rise in slow motion, its jaws getting closer and closer to consuming the dragon which Hiccup had just saved. The dragon which Hiccup knew loved chin scratches and dragon nip even more than any of the others. The writhing fear curling around Hiccups gut exploded into a bright burning star of rage that shot up through his chest. He felt for a moment like he could breathe fire himself. He let out a battle roar that might have even made his ancestors proud.

"NOOO!"

That was all the signal Toothless needed. The largest burst of fire Hiccup had ever seen the dragon create, even in all of the years of raiding, flashed across the cavern. The explosion was defining and blinding. But when Hiccup could see again he couldn't help but pump a fist in the air and shout in a wordless celebration. His gronckle was safe. The great monster leaned against the opposite wall of the cavern stunned for a moment. Then all hell broke loose.

All at once every dragon took off, flying as fast as it could to escape. The great dragon shook its vast skull, collecting its wits. Toothless took off as well, flying once around the gronckle and then heading as fast as he could towards the opening at the top of the Volcano. The giant dragon didn't seem to want to let them go, big surprise there. The beast crawled up the throat of the volcano instead of flying, easily big enough to brace itself between the opposite walls. Its great jaws snapped down on a zippleback just as Hiccup looked back to check the things progress. Hiccup blanched at the sight, and felt guilty at the brief surge of relief when he was sure the zippleback hadn't been the one he brought here.

As Hiccup and his flock pulled up over the lip of the Volcano he noticed the green smoke billowing in the mouth of the beast behind him. Hiccup's eyes widened in terror. If he was hit that fire would incinerate him instantly. Then Toothless would fall back into that things lair. Even the other dragons might not hold up under the heat that thing could let loose. Hiccup pushed his weight forward on Toothless's neck. The nightfury let out a confused warble but quickly pulled into a dive. The Terrible Terror which had been struggling to keep up with the other dragons just barely managed to make it over the lip of the volcano and was curving down the side as a massive torrent of flame tore out. Thankfully because his flock was below the volcanoes opening they weren't caught in the rapidly expanding torrent. A lot of other dragons were.

Hiccup let out a shocked sob. What had he caused? So many dragons in those flames. Followed quickly by a sigh of relief. The dragons flew out of the flame relatively unharmed. A few noticeable burns, but they were all still moving away from the caverns and the horror that lurked within.

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><p>They had been flying for hours. The night had to be almost over, all the dragons were showing signs of exhaustion and Hiccup wasn't entirely sure his hands weren't frozen to Toothless's saddle. Still none of them seemed to want to stop. Hiccup didn't think the monstrous dragon had followed them. Still they were all badly shaken. Hiccup had directed the flock north from Toothless's back. He didn't want to lure that thing towards Berk if it was following them. They had to land, the terrible terror was falling further and further behind the rest of the flock. The creatures little wings were going to give out before too long.<p>

The next island Hiccup spied he maneuvered Toothless towards. When they landed Hiccup fell out of his saddle. He had tried to jump out, but the cold, the stress, and the exhaustion had stripped Hiccup's limbs of all their strength and frozen them solid. Hiccup struggled to rise, Toothless helped him up with his snout and Hiccup stumbled back. He landed against a large stone and sank into a sitting position. Even hours after the event Hiccup had to calm his breathing and lay his hand over his heart in a silly attempt to slow its staccato rhythm.

Toothless was staring at him. The fear in the dragon's eyes was clear. It took Hiccup a moment to realize that the fear wasn't directed towards the monster they had escaped. Toothless moved forward, slowly, tentatively. Making little apologetic whimpers. He was worried seeing a dragon like that would change things between them. "Oh gods, Toothless no." Hiccup grabbed his friends head with both his hands and pulled it into a tight hug. "Don't worry, this thing doesn't change anything between you and me bud. If anything I understand better now. You guys…" Hiccup looked up and across all the frightened tired dragons.

"You all have to bring food back to the nest or that monster will eat you, I get it. By Hel, you guys have been keeping Berk safe for years, though I doubt you know it. If that thing had to hunt for itself then Berk would have been whipped of the face of Midgard three hundred years ago… thank you." Hiccup smiled a wan little smile. He wished he could give the bests more encouragement, but this was really all he could muster.

"Come on guys. Let's at least get some food in us" Hiccup used Toothless to pull himself to a standing position. "It's the least we deserve after the night we've had." Toothless's head perked up while the other dragons just stared at the nightfury quizzically. Hiccup gave a small laugh. After spending time with Hiccup, Toothless knew what the word food meant. Clearly the other dragons didn't. Hiccup walked over to the Packs he had slung Across Toothless's lower back. He drew the packets of smoked salmon he had stored in waxed paper for their travels. Hiccup hadn't expected to be feeding a whole heard of dragons. The food he had hoped would fill Toothless's and his stomachs for a few meals would only be a snack when shared between eight mouths and seven stomachs. Hiccup would have to work on that fishing harness fast. He had no energy for it tonight, but first thing tomorrow for sure.

After the group finished their small servings Hiccup pulled out the heavier winter coat he had brought along and threw it over his riding harness. He wanted that on in case he had to leap on Toothless and escape the giant dragon that still could be following them. Then he curled up next to Toothless and tried to get to sleep.

After only a few minutes the cold started getting to him. Toothless only really kept one side of him warm, and the coat wasn't helping as much as Hiccup had thought it would. Just as he shuffled for the third time, trying to find a way to keep the heat in and the cold out, the gronckle plopped down next to him. After that the Nadder lay down next to his head and the Nightmare stretched his great wings across the top of the pile. The Zippleback weaved its two heads into the pile and rested them on either side of Hiccups knees, the terror crawled in and curled up in his arms purring softly.

"I guess we could all use a little closeness after what just happened." Hiccup felt sleep close in quickly now that he was warm. The last thing he heard before darkness took him was a soft chuckle from Toothless.


	3. Chapter 3

_Here is the next chapter. I would like to thank folks for reading, it's fun knowing people are enjoying my work. I hope you continue to enjoy the story._

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><p>Two months later<p>

Astrid dug at the ruins with fury and passion. Bridget and Aric's house was one of the older homes in the village. Aric's father had built it when he got married. Up until now Bridget and Aric had been raising their son there. Apparently the dragons thought it was time they got a new one. Bridget was fine, she had been out fighting when it happened. Aric has gotten seriously burned when he rushed in to save his child, a sweet little toddler named Arni who hadn't stopped crying since he was pulled out of the burning house. Astrid had hoped that the poor child had cried himself to sleep by now, for everybody's sake.

Aric would be okay, after everybody pitched in to get a new house built for him and replace all the things he had lost in the flames anyway. The way Astrid saw it, behind the lives, it was the loss of heirlooms and treasured possessions that hit people the hardest. That was why Astrid volunteered to be on the crew clearing out the remains of the building before it was completely buried in snow. Salvaging anything they could. Astrid had already found a small doll that had survived mostly without damage. She had set it aside to give to little Arni, the boy deserved some good in all this tragedy. Sadly the Gunnarson house wasn't the first house to burn down this winter and it wouldn't be the last. The villagers were used to the cycle of build, burn, and repeat.

Still there was no doubt that the raids had been worse in the past couple of months. Since the night Hiccup disappeared, the raids had been happening more often and there were more dragons in the skies than ever before. It was like the beasts were mocking the village after taking away its heir.

Astrid still remembered watching Stoick's face crumple into tears when she handed him Hiccups dagger. It had shaken Astrid to the core to see the strongest man she had ever known collapse and weep on the ground, pounding the stones of the great halls floor in futility. He had tried desperately to laugh her story off at first, as some sort of mean prank. The dagger had been what convinced the man his son was gone. He had latter told Astrid that it was the first weapon Hiccup had helped Gobber make in the forge, the boy had worn it proudly since.

Stoick had told Astrid a lot of things in the past two months. Even in the middle of his shattering grief, Stoick the Vast took notice of Astrid's guilt. The way she had been tearing herself apart. Going over a thousand scenarios. If only she had called Hiccup out back in the village instead of trying to catch him in some act. If only she had kept up with him better and not lost sight of him. If only she had spent more time practicing tracking so it didn't take her so long to pick up the boys trail. A thousand possibilities crowded her mind. For days after watching her Chief collapse under the news she hadn't even left her room.

When Stoick squeezed through her door one afternoon, a hot slice of fear had run through Astrid. Not for her physical safety, she felt Stoick had every right to take revenge on the girl who had let his son get carried off by a dragon. Instead she feared for the pain it would cause her when she had to hear all the thoughts that had been chasing each other through her head spoken aloud by the second man her failure had destroyed.

Instead Stoick spoke calmly and kindly to her. Telling her stories about Hiccup, sharing with her all the ways he had loved his son. And all the ways he felt he had failed the boy. He hadn't listened, and he hadn't taken the time to help the boy, to prepare him. Instead he had seen a difficult task, and for the first time in his life, he had turned his back on it. He had tried to hide his son away instead of making him ready to face the world head on. Stoick talked a long time about why he made the choices he did. How he had been trying to protect his last connection to his dead wife. How much the boy had reminded him of her. How much he had loved her.

The stories and the honesty helped Astrid see, better than anything else could have, that Stoick didn't blame her. That nobody in the village did. It didn't stop her blaming herself of course, but seeing Stoick carry on even under his own burden of grief helped Astrid to start to heal. It had also sparked a bond of friendship between the young warrior and her chief. He had taken time to teach her, train with her. Preparing her for the war she would have to live her life fighting.

Astrid glanced up from her task. Hefting the beam she had pulled out of the rubble and tossing it aside. She looked at the ruins of the Killing ring off in the distance. It wouldn't be till spring that the Vikings could fix it and capture new dragons for training. When it was ready, she would be too. The only emotion other than grief and self-loathing that Astrid had felt in those first few days was rage. Rage that on the same night Hiccup died, the dragon that was meant to be his prize was freed from its sentence. It was when she heard that a nightfury had destroyed the Killing Ring that she knew all of what happened. The only dragon to never be seen. Why? Because it had black scales of course. Scales that would hide it at night. Scales like the ones she found where Hiccup had died. The nightfury was no mere beast. It was some sort of demon, cold and calculating. Finding the most powerful ways to hurt the tribe. To break its spirit.

She would be the one to kill the nightfury someday, no doubts, no fear. She knew it like she knew she would kill the flightmare when it came through Berk next year. The dragon that had taken her precious uncle and ruined her family name and the dragon that had taken the goofball fishbone heir of Berk. What better prizes could a young warrior hope to take?

Astrid decided to take a break. She had fought long last night. All of the teens had, except for Tuffnut who had finally gotten that burn he wanted and had been bedridden for the past week. She wandered over to the worktable that had been laid out and took a now cold drumstick to eat while she thought.

How would she bring down the mighty beast? The nightfury had never been seen, much less injured. It was too fast, so long as it was in the air nothing anyone threw at it would hit it. She had to bring it down to the ground, in range of her axe. Then she would have a fight. Astrid studied the edge of said axe as she thought. She felt like it hadn't been as sharp since the last time Hiccup was the one to do the task. Gobber was a good smith, but his apprentice had had an eye for detail that couldn't be beat. An eye for detail and so many plans, so many schemes to protect Berk and its people. He would have been a great Viking if he had just been able to be himself.

Astrid's eyes snapped up to the smoke rising from the Forge. Even in this weather there were weapons to repair and replace, and Gobber had to do more work now that he was on his own. Astrid was on her feet in a heartbeat, dashing through the village with a gleam in her eye. The plan was perfect.

She skidded to a halt outside of Gobber's stall. The Blacksmith was pounding a sword back into shape, no doubt bent on a gronckle's tough hide. "Gobber I need some help." Astrid startled the blacksmith and he jumped a little.

"Listen girl, I just sharpened your axe yesterday, it can't be that dull yet. If you sharpen it too much there won't be any of it left and I have a lot of other work to do." Gobber rounded on the girl and crossed his arms.

"It's not about my axe Gobber. I need to see Hiccup's things." Astrid tried to breeze past the large smith to the upstairs room where Hiccup always did his more delicate work.

"Wha? Why?" Half of Gobber's one brow lowered and the other half rose half way to his helmet. He reached an arm out and blocked the smaller Vikings path.

"Because I need to kill the Nightfury." She locked eyes with Gobber and tried to push his arm out of the way. The older man was having none of it.

"And how does looking at Hiccup's personal belongings help you do that?" The smith asked, with a mite more patience then he had before.

"Hiccup was always building those death machines, if I could find one that would work I could use it to knock the nightfury out of the sky." Astrid was getting frustrated with the old smith's stubbornness, why would he be so protective of Hiccup's old room? Hearing this Gobber's eyes lit up.

"Off course, bring the beast down the boy's own invention, the perfect revenge." Gobber whooped excitedly.

"Exactly why I need to see his notes." Astrid tried to push through again. Gobber caught her and actually pushed her a few steps back away from the stairs.

"I still can't let you go up there lass." Astrid responded to this statement with her best death glare.

"Why not?" Astrid asked impatiently still trying to push past the reluctant smith. Then she noticed the blush creeping up his face.

"Well, I haven't been up there to look through his things yet. The boy might have had some personal effects up there he might not have wanted you rummaging through." The smith spoke slowly, as though he were checking and re-checking each word very carefully before letting it past his lips.

"What sort of effects?" Astrid regretted the question immediately. She knew what Gobber was talking about. Apparently the question was enough to push Gobber a little over the edge and open the floodgates.

"The boy had quite a shine for you. Lord knows he sharpened that axe of yours down to a fine razors edge so you would have to come in and get it sharpened more often. And, well, he was quite the artist. Always had an eye for it, you know. And you. And, well… you know… young men and… well…" Gobber trailed off.

"Gobber, I'm sorry I asked." Astrid was trying to get rid of the blush on her cheeks, she was sure if she let it stay her face would burst into flame, perhaps that would be preferable to her current mortification. Before his death she would have been furious to hear that Hiccup might have created artwork like that of her. Now though she didn't really care, the poor boy was dead, no need to hold the foolish action of a childish crush against him. Still, discussing it with Gobber wasn't exactly a pleasant experience.

"And, I'm sorry I said anything." Gobber looked every bit as mortified as Astrid Felt.

"Then let's pretend this never even happened." Astrid held his gaze for a moment.

"That what happened lass?" Gobber said with a perfectly straight face.

"Exactly." Astrid spun on her heels, intent on getting away as fast as she possibly could.

"Wait lass, I'll take a look. I have a better eye than you do for finding something which might work to bring the damn creature down." On hearing this Astrid spun back around a big grin splitting her face. "I'll even build it for you, free of charge."

"Thank you Gobber. If you could, look for something that would just bring it to the ground. I know it's selfish, but I have to be the one to finish this. I… I just have to." Astrid finished weakly, she knew that by all rights it should be Hiccup's invention or perhaps Stoick who would get the last blow. But it was important to her that she be the one to do it.

"I understand lass. When the time comes you better be ready. I don't want to lose another piece of Berks future to that beast, you hear me." Gobber held her gaze while he gave that order.

"I will be." Astrid gazed right back. She would be, no matter what came, she would be ready for it.


	4. Chapter 4

_Another Chapter coming your way. The action is going to start picking up soon so stay tuned. As always feel free to tell me about any error's I missed and anywhere you think the text is unclear, along with any positive comments you may have, writing is easiest on a well feed ego after all ;)_

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><p>Hiccup pushed his way past the gronckle and the nightmare who had taken to sleeping at the front of the cave. Possibly to guard against an attack, but probably to protect Hiccup from the cold that only really bothered him. The two largest dragons blocked up most of the cave mouth and worked wonders keeping the cold air out. Hiccup was proud of all the ways he had found to adapt to his new way of life. He had managed to get the fishing net working on the second day on his own. After that it was easy to keep the dragons feed without them having to hunt all the time. He had found the cave which he had turned into home about a week later. The little island he was on had some winter berries and mushrooms which he was stocking up on before deadly winter set in. Even if the dragons could live entirely on fish Hiccup knew that he couldn't.<p>

Hiccup had woken up that morning hoping to convince his nadder to melt one of the frozen pools that sat near his Cave. With the nadder's flame it only took a few seconds to heat the ice enough to have a somewhat comfortable bath. Sadly the Nadder wasn't in the cave when Hiccup had woken up. The colorful dragon enjoyed early morning flights almost more than Toothless did. So now Hiccup wouldn't get to bathe this morning. Why oh why hadn't he tried to find an island with a hot spring?

Hiccup had tried to make his cave as homely as possible. Sadly he didn't have much to work with. He had used his tools to fashion some utensils out of driftwood. And had built himself a small mud brick stove to better cook his meals. He had stuffed the cloth that he brought with wool from some wild sheep he and toothless had found on a nearby island and used it as makeshift bedding. Still, it wasn't the most comfortable living situation. Eventually he would need new clothing, or gods forbid, parts to fix Toothless's tail.

Hiccup freely admitted that he hadn't really thought this plan through before he put it into action. There was no way he was going to be able to stay gone forever. There were too many things he needed from Berk in order to live comfortable. Even with the help of dragons he wouldn't be able to do much more than scrape by on his own.

But how does one go back to ones village after betraying it. Hiccup slumped down on a convenient rock and dropped his chin into his hands. He had betrayed everything his village stood for, everything his father stood for. He was right to do so, Hiccup was sure of that. Dragons were amazing creatures and the conflict between the two groups wasn't the dragons' fault any more than it was the Vikings'. But even if that were true the conflict had been going on for generations. Every single Viking on Berk had somebody who they had lost to dragons at some point or another.

Hiccup picked up a tree branch and started idly scratching at the snow between his feet. He wasn't even sure his father would change his mind about dragons, even if the man did take the time to listen to Hiccup's explanation. Hiccup was used to seeing the fire in his father's eyes when he thought about dragons. It was the only expression that matched the man's loneliness when he thought about his long dead wife, the mother Hiccup didn't even remember. Was there any way to make up for a pain like that? What could Hiccup do to shock the man out of his hatred?

Through all of this thinking Hiccup had been scratching away with his stick. When he looked down he saw that he had been sketching the answer to his problems. "Odin's praise," Hiccup exclaimed with a smile. The canny old one eyed god must have sent him divine inspiration as a sign. How else could you explain the drawing of the Read Death Hiccup had completed while thinking?

He certainly hadn't been intending to draw the colossal dragon, which he had named on a whim weeks ago. But it answered all his questions. If he rode into town on the back of Toothless with some claw or fang from the Death, it just might be enough to shock Stoick into listening, and convince the stubborn Viking of the realities which Hiccup had become painfully aware of in the past two months. With the death gone the raiding would stop as well, giving Hiccup a chance to mend the divide between Viking and dragon, hopefully forever. How to do it was the question.

The Death was an absolutely gigantic dragon. Judging by how quickly it had shaken off Toothless' best shot a straight fight wouldn't end well. What would Gobber say? He was always the fountain of knowledge when it came to dragon slaying. 'It's the wings and the tail you really want…' The Red Death had wings. They had looked pitifully small on the huge beast. But they had been furled. If the beast was capable of flight then it was also capable of falling. 'A downed dragon is a dead dragon.'

Hiccup added wings to his drawing, then scratched a number of long straight lines through them. Toothless might not be able to pierce that things hide, but if he hit them straight on he just might be able to cut its wings. Would the fall be enough to kill it though? Hiccup doubted it. Any regular creature of that size would crush itself under even a small fall. The Death was different. Perhaps he was just being silly, but something about a creature that size simply defied logic and reason. Any beast that large should be too heavy to move under its own power. If it could get up into the air, especially on its small wings, then it would have to be even lighter.

Hiccup grimaced in frustration, this was even assuming the beast could fly. Hiccup didn't have any evidence that it could. The creature hadn't pulled itself out of its volcano to chase Hiccup's flock after all… Hiccup kicked his drawing into oblivion in his frustration. If he couldn't draw the beast out of its lair there was no way he could take it down. In the relatively small confines of the cave there would be no way for him and Toothless to avoid being roasted by the beast's great flames. Hiccup could still sometimes feel the heat on his face from the great inferno that had exploded from the mouth of the volcano.

Hiccup shuddered, dropping his drawing stick to wrap his arms around himself. What was he thinking? Planning to drag Toothless back into the reach of that things flames and claws. His friend deserved better. Hiccup would have to find another way. Hiccup settled back in to think.

Then everything was upside down. He was suddenly tumbling along, his vision rotating between the sharp blue of a clear sky, the frosty white of snow and scales as black as a moonless night. Hiccup let out a sharp cry of surprise as he was quickly wrapped in the wings of his obnoxious but loving companion. The bouncing roll that the beast and boy fell into rattled every bone in Hiccup's body.

"Auugh, really Toothless. Come on, I'm not built as tough as you, one of these days you're going to tackle the teeth straight out of my skull." Hiccup tried his hardest to make his scolding sound angry as he batted at the dragon's nose, he didn't want to promote this sort of behavior. The black dragon just grinned his big gummy grin down at the boy.

"Hehehe… Okay I get it hehe… Toothless, come on bud…. Hehe, you gotta let me up. Hahahahahaha." Hiccup broke out into all out laughter by the end of the sentence. So much for the stern disciplinarian. "I can't believe how much I let you get away with you big bully." Hiccup scratched his dragon up and down his jaw line. Toothless, for his part, rubbed his forehead into Hiccups chest and let out a contented groan.

"Yeah, yeah. What do you say we go catch us some breakfast, huh big guy." The big dragon's ears perked up at that. "You heard me right, morning flight followed by breakfast you silly lizard, the only reasons you keep me around." Hiccup's jest was lost on the black dragon. Toothless was away in a flash, bounding towards the sea cliff where he and Hiccup always started their morning flights. "Haha, Toothless you're going to have to wait up bud, unless you've figured out how to take off your own since yesterday." Hiccup grabbed the net he had left out to dry the day before and took off after his mighty steed.

Hiccup was happy to note that even hauling the heavy net he still made good time to the sea cliff. When he first started out he would have reached the cliff about a minute later and panting for breath. Now he vaulted up into Toothless' saddle with ease, locked the net into its straps on his dragon's harness and was ready to go in one smooth motion. It seems like a few months of roughing it had done what no amount of hoping had ever done, he was finally starting to develop some strength in his little fishbone body. Hiccup settled back on Toothless's back, and felt a huge grin split his face.

"Today is going to be a fantastic day, I can already tell bud. Just look at that sky. Smell that fresh sea air." Hiccup took a deep breath in and let out a happy sigh. Toothless just sneezed, and wriggled his nose. Once Hiccup managed to stop laughing he prompted Toothless to take off.

Even if the winter morning was as cold as ever it was still a fantastic day for flying. There had been a major snowstorm for the past few days and neither rider nor dragon had wanted to spend too much time flying in those conditions. Instead they had flown out each day, just long enough to catch enough fish to keep themselves fed. The other dragons had taken to hunting and fishing for their own meals, not that they turned down any leftovers from Hiccup and Toothless's catch. Hiccup had been glad that he didn't have to spend more time out in the blizzard catching fish for the other dragons.

Now he wouldn't have minded the extra time. He could soar all day and be happy, in fact he had spent many days entirely in the saddle. Exploring the nearby islands, getting closer than he ever thought possible to wild dragons, dancing among the clouds, and practicing his aerial acrobatics. Hiccup urged Toothless into a series of large spirals, cutting the air in a beautiful corkscrew. Hiccup whooped in excitement, the deep green-blue of the ocean and the crisp morning light spiraling in his vision until the two melted together. Toothless roared along with his rider and tightened his spin until eventually the two were in a twirling descent towards the water.

At the last moment, in perfect synchronization, Toothless and Hiccup pulled out of their dive. Toothless's claws scrapped the top of the waves, and the duo felt the patter of the sea mist on their faces. Hiccup leaned into the saddle slightly and pushed his knuckles into the Toothless's back, the signal for the nightfury to shoot a bolt of flame. The whistling burst that frightened even the bravest Vikings on Berk blew the flames of Hiccup's excitement into a great bonfire. The bolt of flame crashed into the sea ahead of the duo. The heat of the fire instantly creating a huge billowing cloud of steam.

Toothless spread his wings to their fullest extent. As the duo rushed over the rising cloud of steam the black dragon beat his wings down with all his might. Hiccup could feel the strain of the gigantic muscles on the dragon's back even through the tick leather saddle. The power of the dragon's down stroke coupled with the speed and density of the steam updraft sent dragon and rider rocketing upwards into the sky at an almost vertical angle. The air pulled Hiccup's hair flat against his head and he pressed himself as far into Toothless's saddle as he could go in order to reduce the wind resistance. Hiccup could feel his blood being pulled towards his lower body, a strange effect he had noticed when Toothless changed speed or direction rapidly. The duo shot hundreds of feet into the air before Toothless had to start beating his wings again. Toothless made sure they didn't lose much momentum as they continued to rise. Soon they were whipping past the wispy remnants of yesterday's storm.

When Hiccup started to feel light headed he shifted his weight slightly, letting Toothless know it was time to level their flight off. After taking a few deep breaths in, trying to regain his breath in the strangely unsatisfying air, and working his jaw to pop the bubbles that had developed in his ears Hiccup patted Toothless on the back of the head, letting the nightfury know what he planned to do next. Toothless warbled his assent back. Hiccup was glad the dragon was getting more comfortable with letting his rider free fall.

In a smooth motion, without any hesitation, Hiccup pulled his feet out of their stirrups, hopped to a crouching position on Toothless's back and leapt off into a flip over the dragon's head. When gravity caught up to him and he started dropping Hiccup smiled. He knew by all rights he should be terrified, nothing underneath him but air. Instead he loved it, the sense of being entirely surrounded by rushing wind, nothing to touch on all sides. Just him, falling freely, in complete control, master of his own destiny. Hiccup tucked his arms across his chest and set himself to spinning. Holding his body straight he let the wind do its work, spinning and twirling and cartwheeling the young Viking in random pattern around the center of his weight. Hiccup laughed and whooped as he fell. Occasionally catching sight of the lance of black which Toothless had become, the dragon falling right beside his master, albeit in a much more orderly fashion.

Hiccup threw his arms out and steadied his fall. Reorienting himself above the ocean. He then pulled his body into a straight dive in order to catch up to Toothless. Well above the crashing waves the two met again. Hiccup sliding back into his saddle and reengaging Toothless's artificial tailfin. The nightfury threw out its wings and pulled the duo into an arcing glide, still a safe distance above the water.

""WoooooHoooooo! That gets more amazing every time I do it. Hahaha, one of these days I'm gonna have to find a way to fly on my own bud, nothing else for it, I love the feeling too much." Hiccup rambled in giddy delight as he sagged back in the saddle, simply relaxing and enjoying the tingling lightning that danced beneath his skin.

A black ear popped up and smacked Hiccup across the side. Toothless let out a long low groan, Hiccup had learned to recognize it as the dragon version of 'get me some damned food or else.' "Alright alright, I'd say we've earned ourselves some breakfast, let's just catch it and get back, huh?" Hiccup pulled himself back up into a proper riding position and reached over his right side to release the safety clips on the net. He would want to be able to release the thing fast once Toothless spotted a nice school of fish.

When Toothless tensed up, Hiccup took his signal and followed the dragons gaze. A patch of water that sparkled more silver than the rest greeted his sight. Hiccup had never been great at spotting fish. His dragon companion on the other hand was a master. The duo angled themselves towards the school and swooped down gracefully from above. Just before they hit the bottom of their arc Hiccup released the net. It quickly unfurled and splashed into the water. The cylindrical net quickly gained weight and Hiccup felt Toothless stall a bit under the new weight. The dragon quickly regained its speed however and the duo dragged a large helping of struggling trout out of the water a moment later. A minutes work had landed the two all the food they would need for the day.

Not for the first time Hiccup marveled at the difference dragons could make on Berk. Fishing was always a time consuming and difficult task. Boats sometimes had to travel for days to find a large school and had to spend hours at a time with their nets in the water to catch enough fish to make the venture worthwhile. The same Vikings could catch five times the food with half the work from the backs of dragons. Hiccup let out a long sigh.

"In my dreams maybe… let's get home and fill our stomachs bud," Toothless crooned an affirmative response to Hiccups suggestion. The two turned around and started heading back to their new home.


	5. Chapter 5

_Here comes another chapter. My Grad Program is getting crazy for the next couple weeks so expect sporadic updates. I will try for at least 1 a week._

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><p>Hiccup was getting sick of fish. There was nothing else for it. He was sick of it. He hadn't really thought about how little else there was to eat on an island in the middle of winter. Toothless had managed to catch a couple of gulls and a winter hair for him in the past couple of weeks, but Hiccup still yearned for some cabbage, or bread. Mmmm, sweet sweet bread. Anything but more meat and fish. Still, fish was what he had, so he dug in.<p>

Hiccup had never been a great cook, he and his father ate out of the great hall most days. Taking some of whatever was cooking communally for the villages work crews and patrols. When they did cook meals at home they were often simple affairs. Even without any natural talent for it, Hiccup had gotten pretty good at roasting fish. He had to. Fish was nasty stuff, burnt fish was a thousand times worse.

After arriving back at the cave with his catch the other dragons had taken off to do some flying and fishing of their own. The beasts apparently weren't comfortable leaving their den without someone around to protect it. The nadder still wasn't back yet, Hiccup wasn't worried. From what he had seen so far Dragons were unpredictable in their daily activities. Some days they lounged around all day and others they could barely seem to stay on the ground. The nadder would probably be back by nightfall.

Hiccup finished the detestable fish and stood up, stretching out his spine, he always got a deep, euphoric exhaustion when he and Toothless really got moving. Hiccup wished it wasn't so cold out. Aside from the temperature this was the perfect day for a nap in the sun.

Instead Hiccup busied himself with his most recent project. He was trying to build a screen of tree branches to put in the cave entrance to block the wind. Even if they did it of their own free will the gronckle and nightmare couldn't be comfortable exposed to the elements like they were. Hiccup hoped to remedy that. With a shiver he admitted he was also building the wall so that he wouldn't have to be cold every time the two dragons decided to leave the cave.

The process of wall building was long and hard without the proper manpower and tools. Hiccup had never truly appreciated the sheer efficiency with which Vikings could build a house before trying to do it on his own. His tribesman even found time to decorate their houses, a silent roar of defiance against the inevitability of their destruction. Hiccup's attempts weren't shaping up to be nearly so fancy. First of all, Hiccup didn't have an abundance of materials. He had even run out of twine, using the last of it to replace his first fishing net which had torn on a particularly large haul, a mistake Hiccup had made sure not to repeat.

The lack of twine meant Hiccup was stuck weaving the most flexible branches he could find, using a few sturdier branches as a frame. This was after, of course, Hiccup meticulously cleaned each branch with a large sharp edged stone. Hiccup really wished he had retrieved his knife from the lake before leaving Berk. The fact that he had forgotten it for weeks, until after he left the island, was pretty embarrassing. And painful, Hiccup had bruised and nicked his fingers countless times as he tried to clean the branches. He was lucky most of the wounds were small. He didn't know healing herbs and so hadn't thought to bring any. He certainly didn't want to get an infected wound while he was out in the wild.

As things stood Hiccup was running towards the end of his pre stalked branches and his wall would only cover about two thirds of the cave entrance. Hiccup took his utensils outside and rubbed some snow on them to clean them off. He then deposited them in his pocket, the dragons would often lick them if he left them out. With that he was ready to set off into the woods to find some more sticks. Thankfully Toothless hadn't started to doze off after his meal yet and decided to follow Hiccup.

Hiccup had found out quickly that Toothless was tall enough on his hind legs to reach the lower branches of most trees and tear of the choice branches. Hiccup was thankful for this ability. It meant he didn't have to dig through the snow for deadwood. He and Toothless traveled through the woods. Toothless knocking down branches. Hiccup going through them gathering up the ones he wanted. Toothless complaining noisily that Hiccup didn't take the branches that the dragon thought he should. Hiccup making a point of adding Toothless's favorite stick to the pile. Toothless happily bounding off to the next tree. Hiccup surreptitiously ridding himself of the extra branches and following the now appeased dragon.

The process continued on for a while. Just when Hiccup was thinking about heading back to the cave with his new materials there was a sudden crash behind him. In a black flash Toothless had whipped around and wrapped his wings and tail protectively around Hiccup, sending the boys armful of branches flying. "Whoa, bud, calm down." Hiccup called to his scaly companion.

What burst out of the trees wasn't a threat. The nadder had returned from its flight, surprisingly the beast had come in at a low angle, bashing its way through the trees instead of soaring over them like it usually would. Hiccup extracted himself from Toothless' protective embrace. "Whoa, whoa there. What's wrong" Hiccup intercepted the flustered dragon.

The nadder hopped nervously from foot to foot, Hiccup couldn't figure out what was bothering the beast, it looked fine physically. Not for the first time Hiccup wished that dragons could talk. "What's, got you so worked up," Hiccup laid his hand on the ridge below the nadder's eye, trying to calm it and capture its attention. The dragon, for its part grabbed up the shoulder of Hiccups coat in its jaw and pulled him forward a few steps.

"Hey, wait, hold on there," Hiccup extracted himself from the beasts jaw while trying to sooth its agitation. "I get it, you want me to follow you. I get it, you don't have to pull me. I'll hop on Toothless and we will go take a look at what you want us to see, alright." Hiccup took the opportunity while the colorful dragon was distracted by his calming voice to hop onto Toothless's back.

"Alright guys, let's get going. I'm guessing whatever you've got to show us is important." Hiccup directed the end of his sentence to the Nadder. Only noticing after the words were out of his mouth, that the beast had already taken off.

Soon Hiccup and Toothless were zipping over the water after the agitated dragon. The Nadder was pushing itself, flying as fast as Hiccup had ever seen it go. Even the night the group escaped from the Red Death the dragons had slowed down so that the terror could keep up. Now the nadder was showing its true speed. Hiccup was impressed. He and Toothless were still faster but the nadder was making them work for it.

Soaring high in the sky and covering such a great distance surprised Hiccup. Whatever the nadder had found it must have traveled to in almost a straight line in order to get to wherever it was going and make it back to the nest early enough in the day to catch Hiccup and Toothless. Just when Hiccup was starting to wonder if the dragon was lost an island came into view. The nadder put on another burst of speed, sailing high over the island. Hiccup was surprised that the beast wasn't angling downwards, surely whatever had the creature so upset must be on that island, so why wasn't it flying down there.

Hiccup and Toothless angled down slightly, trying to get a bit closer to the island so they could get a better look at what was going on.

"What in the name of Thor!" Hiccup was shocked by what he saw. Far below, in a clearing on the small island was a dragon. Hiccup couldn't immediately place it, though it did look somewhat familiar. What he wouldn't give for a copy of the book of dragons. But that wasn't what had prompted his outcry. Even from this distance Hiccup could tell that the creature was hurt. One of its wings laid out on the ground in a way that Hiccup knew, from long years of watching dragons battle Vikings, meant the wing had been broken. Even from this distance Hiccup could see splotches of red on the creatures skin that he was certain weren't part of the beast's natural blue coloration.

Hiccup urged Toothless into a dive, he had to help the animal. He ignored a warning squawk from the nadder. Even if this dragon was dangerous he still couldn't just leave it to die. Toothless landed gracefully. Thankfully the dragon hadn't moved to lash out in retaliation for the duo's intrusion into the beast's clearing. Hiccup had sprung down out of his saddle and taken a few steps towards the creature before he noticed something wrong.

The Beast had a large body, very flat, with no neck and an absurdly large mouth. A mouth which was currently bound shut by a large metal band around the creatures jaw, hooked behind the single horn on its snout so that the dragon wouldn't be able to shake it or claw it loose. The exhausted beast gave Hiccup and Toothless a startled look.

"FIRE!" Hiccup heard the shout just before he heard the loud twang. Hearing another human voice startled Hiccup. Almost as much as getting tackled from behind startled him. Toothless had leapt into his back like he had earlier that morning. This time the dragon landed over Hiccup in a defensive crouch. Hiccup looked startled past Toothless's leg. A huge net had whistled a hairsbreadth past the two and now spun across the clearing, crashing into the nearby bushes with enough force to break the branches it struck first.

Before Hiccup could react Toothless had fired a plasma blast and leapt over his head. Hiccup scrambled to his feet, first noticing the blasted wreck of some sort of machine. Clearly whatever had thrown the net, even his father couldn't have managed a throw like that. Then he noticed the five heavily armed warriors charging Toothless. At first glance a chill like ice water ran down Hiccup's spine. What were Vikings doing out here, Hiccup hadn't seen any in months. No, wait… There weren't Vikings.

Even as Toothless head-butted the first attacker back into the tree line, Hiccup noticed the man wearing strangely marked clothing and some sort of odd woven cap. Clearly not Vikings. The other attackers didn't fare much better. Toothless quickly batted another back with his shoulder and kicked a third who had tried to circle around.

"Swarm 'em lads, don't let that dragon get a chance to take off." Hiccup's head snapped to his left seeing another cluster of attackers burst from where they must have been waiting in ambushed. As the attackers closed the short distance between the edge of the clearing and Hiccup, the tallest of the attackers pulled ahead of the group, preparing to throw some sort of bone spear. Judging by the way he was looking at Hiccup, the boy doubted he intended the spear to be a warning shot.

A hand whipped out of the crowd and snatched the spear thrower by the collar, yanking the man back. A heartbeat later a line of scorching, white hot flame blasted between the group of attackers and Hiccup. The nadder had taken a low sweep between Hiccup and the group.

"Ohh, man. I really should have listened." Hiccup watched the blue dragon as it curved gracefully in the air, clearly moving in for another pass. The dragon had tried to warn him. It had known there were people on the island. That was why it had flown so high over the island.

Just as the creature had completed its turn it was hit by a set of bolas. The nadder fell from the sky with a shriek and slammed down hard, behind the cluster of ambushers. Hiccup's refocused on them. The leader, the one who had pulled the spear thrower out of the way of the nadder's flame, had his arm still extended in a throwing motion. He had reacted as quickly as any Viking could have and taken down the nadder with a worrying level of skill.

The man turned and met Hiccup's gaze. He was a short squat man with pale skin. His bald head was covered in strange blue tattoos and he had dragon fangs and claws woven into his beard. For a moment there was a hint of confusion in his eyes as he locked his gaze with Hiccup's. Then a menacing grin spread over his face.

"Well well, looks like we aren't just getting Dragon's today boys. We have ourselves a dragon rider to bring back to camp as well." This announcement was met with some whooping and cheering from his backers. "Go, quick. Secure the nadder and whatever that black beast is. I'll introduce myself to our little friend over here."


End file.
